THE TOFU HUT

Friday, March 19, 2004

Kondor-Ol Ondarglisten globally: week one

I'm not even gonna pretend this is for everyone, but if you've never heard a Tuvan song before?

Boy do I have something new for you.

Tuva is a tiny Asian country whose indigenous people engage in an utterly unique method of music making: throat singing. This style of vocalism allows for multiple overtones, sounds that "vibrate" in a manner similar to the Bulgarian music that we heard yesterday. Tuvan singers are able to manipulate their vocal cords in such a manner that they are able to sing in two voices simultaneously, a'la Roland Kirk.

How is this done? Here's a quote from the liner notes of a Tuvan recording via this source:

"(T)he vocal cords of the Tuvinian people are anatomically the same as those of other people. But a previously unknown mechanism of vocal cords and larynx was discovered: when air is pressed out, two strictures form in the larynx. Then one voice is produced normally by the vocal cords; the other voice originates when the gristle of larynx and epiglottis approach each other, cover the vocal cords and leave an opening in the middle of just 1 to 1.5 mm diameter. By moving the tip of the tongue to and fro on the palate [of the mouth], the different harmonics originate.

Generally one of these voices forms a deep bass tone, while the other wheedles above the bass in a tinny "glassy" chorus. This creates a transcendental and almost electronic sound.

Tuvan throat singing, or khoomei as it's called in Tuva, is no longer quite as esoteric a musical interest as it was even five years ago, thanks greatly to the Oscar nomination of the documentary "Ghengis Blues", the amazing story of a blind Western blues musician who taught himself throat singing (and the tuvan language) and travelled to Tuva to compete in a khoomei competition. Even though "Ghengis Blues" did not win the Oscar (that was "Thoth"'s year to win and we'll run into him in the Hut sooner or later) the film's exposure via NPR and other similar outlets raised the music public's IQ on the subject considerably.

Today's selections all hail from the sadly out of print album "Deep in the Heart of Tuva." Released by the wonderful Ellipsis Arts... (who do not seem to have either kept many of their albums available or to maintain a current online home), "Deep in the Heart" follows Ellipsis' regular publishing method: a book length essay packed along with a CD of tunes. If you can find a copy, this is a GREAT introduction to indigenous Tuvan music, both for the tracks and the copious documentation included.

If you CAN'T find a copy, that's what I'm here for.

Happy Friday. Enjoy the sounds of Tuva. Drive your cubiclemates nuts.

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Bilchi Maa Daava - "Hoomi Lullaby"

According to this aforementioned online paper, Bilchi was "one of the last women to learn to throat-sing before the performance of khoomei by women became taboo."

Here she demonstrates some of the versatility of the style; eschewing the traditionally rough glottalgrind of the male performance for sonic slipandslide.

I'd love to hear a whole album of lullabyes from different countries; it's so strange that the things that we consider calming vary so greatly from culture to culture. Actually, I used to fall asleep to this album, so maybe we're not so very different after all.

Paul Pena is the subject of the aforementioned "Ghengis Blues", the blind singer who taught himself khoomei. Paul has played professionally with Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. His synthesis of traditional American blues with traditional Tuvan khoomei is a thing of beauty.

Kargyraa is a specific style of khoomei, grounded in a gravediggerdeep growly bass that bears some comparison to traditional Buddhist circular breath chants.

This is a live recording from a throat singing competition.

Paul Pena's official websitePaul's lost A LOT of weight, presumably owing to his battle with pancreatitis. The last update on the page was in 2002 and I don't knows how Pena's doing now (Google is inconclusive), but why not drop a few bucks on the poor cat here?
The current rate is 99cents for a single,yes?
Do th' right thing.
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The official "Ghengis Blues" website comes complete with plenty of downloadable music.
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Why not learn to speak Tuvan yourself?

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Yat Kha - Yenisei Punk

Yat Kha is a real jaw dropper: a group of Tuvan singers who perform a fusion of Tuvan traditional and modern rock. While this SOUNDS like a horrible idea, in practice it's chocolate and peanut butter.

I'm off to Miami for the weekend, so you'll see no posting out of me until Monday, when we should PROBABLY return (maybe Tuesday is more realistic) with a new mix CD review and a whole 'nother week of glisten globally; featuring the sax of Manu Dibango, the sounds of the Babenzele Pygmies, the beautiful Susana Baca, African pop from the 50's by Dorothy Masuka and a mixed bag of worldwide sounds.
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The outpouring of niceness in yesterday's comment box was received with a warm and greedy heart. You make me want to shame you into responding everyday. So respond! Respond! Even yesterday's lovefest represented only 1 in every 45 of you who stopped by! I love to hear from you, even if it's just a brief "i liked it"; plus I enjoy rummaging through your homepages. You guys are into neat stuff. Share.

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not so spiffy

On the completely serious tip, I was saddened to hear the news that Tammy Faye Messner has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.

Tammy was pilloried in the press due to her, shall we say, eccentric manner; but really, it's a Southern thang. Though I certainly don't agree with EVERYTHING she spouts, I DO believe that she means well and that she's done quite a bit of good in the greater scheme of things. For a walking talking Precious Moments doll with a wicked sense of humour, she comes off pretty goddamn well.

I'll be posting a variation of this comment in the sidebar afore too long, but I feel sort of naked without the following warning:

Although every effort has been made to verify the authenticity of the information contained in this blog, google journalism has its limits. As such, it is completely possible that you may find errors, statistical slips or outright garbage lies mixed in a few of these articles.

The author shouts mea culpa but implores you to contact him if you discover a mistake so that he can rectify the situation.

Similarly, please be aware that although I have visited all the sites cited, I cannot vouch for the veracity of the material (much less the politics) of my linkage.

Click at your own peril and surf with a grain of salt. As always, your milage may vary.

Press Your Luck: The Michael Larsen IncidentAbsolutely amazing.
Via HIGHMASCULINETONES.
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If you're burning these tracks onto CD, here's the perfect way to store them.
Beautiful.
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Opacodex will make the jump to sidebar if he keeps musicblogging, but you really MUST drop by now and pick up Caetano Veloso's track "Cucurrucucú Paloma" from him. This is a featured track from the spectacular Almodovar film "Talk to Her" and not something it would've occurred to me to hunt down but now that I have it I don't know how I lived without.
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Double headed wonders from BLORT:

In a statement sent to the Arabic language daily al-Hayat, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades (a group claiming to have links with al Qaeda)... said it supported President Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."
In comments addressed to Bush, the group said:
"Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilization."
"Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected."

I'll be checking snopes on this one, but that's a helluva endorsement, eh?
via EMPTYHANDED

WANNA SEND ME STUFF?WANNA TALK? HOLLABACK@

A BRIEF DISCLAIMER

All MP3's are offered for a limited time and are for sampling purposes only. Music posted here is posted out of love, not with the intention for profit or to violate copyright. If you are the creator (or copyright owner) of a song, excerpt, essay, graphic or photo posted on this blog, please contact me at the email above if you want to comment on the selection or wish to have it removed. Please don't direct link to a track; it's rude. Delete all tracks after 24 hours. Don't get them wet. Don't feed them after midnight. If you can't download it, it's gone. No refills. Come early, come often, come correct.

One Last Thing

Although every effort has been made to verify the authenticity of the information contained in this blog, google journalism has its limits. As such, it is completely possible that you may find errors, statistical slips or outright garbage lies mixed in a few of these articles.
The author shouts mea culpa but implores you to contact him if you discover a mistake so that he can rectify the situation.
Similarly, please be aware that although I have visited all the sites cited, I cannot vouch for the veracity of the material (much less the politics) of my linkage.
Click at your own peril.Surf with a grain of salt handy.